Tomato harvester

ABSTRACT

An improved tomato harvester severs tomato plants just below the ground and picks up the plants. Dirt clods, along with some loose tomatoes, are mechanically separated from the plants, and the plants are thereupon subjected to increasingly vigorous shaking by walking bars having plural upstanding resilient inverted vee projections to remove the tomatoes. The tomatoes are freed of chaff, twigs and other foreign matter and are then carried on a pair of main sorting conveyors past sorters who remove culls. At the same time the clods and loose tomatoes pass countercurrently by the same sorters, some of whom select the good loose tomatoes and place them onto the main sorting conveyor while the loose culls and clods are conveyed to the ground for disposal.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to an improved tomato harvester and to animproved tomato harvesting method.

Great savings for the public have resulted by the use of mechanicalharvesting of tomatoes, the tomatoes used for canning at least. This hasenabled fewer people to do more work and to do it better and when usedin conjunction with the tomatoes especially bred for uniform ripeninggives a large recovery from the field, so that the farmer has prosperedas well.

However, mechanical harvesting has not been without problems. One ofthese has related to the pickup of dirt along with the tomato plants.Getting rid of these dirt clods has caused problems, since some farmerspick up so much dirt that it has become difficult for the sorters toseparate the tomatoes from the dirt. The farmers do not want simply todiscard the clods, since this would result in discarding loose tomatoesof about the same size as the clods. The present invention provides agood way of getting rid not only of fine dirt but also of clodssubstantially the size of tomatoes or even larger while still recoveringloose tomatoes.

Some growers have also been dissatisfied with the recovery of tomatoesfrom the plants, saying that the shaking devices heretofore in use havenot shaken off a sufficient number of tomatoes. The present invention isalso directed to that problem and provides for an increased vigor ofshaking to obtain more tomatoes from the plants.

The invention is also directed to numerous smaller problems which willappear in the course of discussion. Generally, it is an object of theinvention to provide an improved tomato harvester directed particularlyto improved recovery in the amount of tomatoes while still handling themwith the requisite tenderness so that they are not damaged. It also hasas its object improving the ease of sorting while still optimizing theserecoveries. Other objects include solving the problems which suchattempts at improved recovery result in, such a vastly improvedmechanical separation of dirt and plant vegetation from the tomatoes.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The tomato harvester of this invention incorporates a cutter bar at thefront end which severs the tomato plants below ground and is followed bya pickup device for lifting the plants. The pickup device includes anendless conveyor of linked, spaced-apart bars located to the rear of thecutter bar and spaced rearwardly from it a distance just sufficient toenable returning to the ground most of the dirt raised in a ground swellover the cutter bar, while being sure to lift the plants. This forwardpickup section lies at a relatively low horizontal angle such as 20°, soas to increase recovery at this point, and a feature of this inventionis that the rearward and upward movement of the pickup conveyor isslower than the ground speed of the harvester, about fifteen percentslower. During elevation, most of the remaining fine dirt and smallchunks of dirt fall between the bars of the pickup conveyor, while thebars carry up the tomato plants along with clods of dirt and sometomatoes that fall off the plants during elevation or cutting or falloff prior to cutting.

The pickup device of this invention is made up of two separatesections--the forward pickup section just described, and an upperelevator section which is separated from the forward pickup section by agap into which the clods fall, along with many of the loose tomatoes.Below the gap the clods (and loose tomatoes) fall onto a pair ofcross-conveyors, and they are sent up to the sorting areas by a pair ofspecial conveyor systems. In this gap the invention employs a rotatingspinner bar which urges the tomato plants onto the upper elevatorsection while enabling the loose tomatoes and clods to fall onto theirrecovery system cross-conveyor. The spinner bar is constructed ofundulating resilient fingers to accomplish this separation of the tomatoplants from the clods and loose tomatoes at minimum damage to the plantsthemselves and simultaneously to prevent too many tomatoes from beingshaken off during this elevating procedure, although such as are will berecovered at this point. A feature of this invention is that the spinnerbar moves faster than the forward pickup conveyor, about fifteen percentfaster, and therefore at a speed approximately equal to the ground speedof the harvester.

The upper elevator lies at a steeper angle of inclination than theforward pickup conveyor, so that the machine may be shorter thanotherwise and so that the tomato plants are elevated directly to theshaker assembly. This upper elevator also moves faster than either thelower or forward pickup conveyor and the spinner, preferably about 15percent faster than the spinner and therefore about 15 percent fasterthan the ground speed of the harvester. One need not be overly concernedat this stage with retaining the loose tomatoes on the upper elevator,for if any do become loose during this phase or have been carried up,they can still fall back down to the separator gap or else they becomeenmeshed with the plants enough to be carried up and recovered with theother tomatoes in the shaker assembly of the device. The upper elevatorcan therefore be an inperforate belt containing transverse flexibleprojections in sufficient numbers to engage the tomato plants and helpto carry them up.

The velocities of the forward pickup section, the spinner bar, and theupper elevator are critically related to harvester ground speed andfield conditions and are therefore adjustable by the operator. As notedabove, under normal field conditions the forward pickup section operatesin a rearward and upward direction at about fifteen percent belowharvester ground speed, while the spinner bar rotates at about groundspeed and the upper elevator travels at about 15 percent above groundspeed.

The width of the gap--or even its very presence--may be varied so thatdiffering field conditions are readily and easily accommodated. Wherelarger dirt clods are encountered, the gap is widened and where smallclods are typical, the gap is narrowed. Where the soil is sandy andthere are no clods, the gap may be closed. The gap width is varied byadjustment of the position of the spinner bar, and in this regard thespinner bar is preferably provided with three vertical and threehorizontal positions. For complete removal of the gap, the spinner baris removed and the upper elevator moved down.

At its upper end, the elevator deposits the plants in the shakerassembly of the harvester. This is similar to shakers shown in otherharvester patents owned by this assignee, but has an importantimprovement in that it provides for a more vigorous shaking action forthe tomato plants. To do this the shaker is provided with a series ofupstanding inverted vee-shaped relsilient members, each having a ratheracute angle of inclination, although the vertex thereof is rounded toprevent actual piercing of tomatoes. In addition, horizontal rubberfingers project transversely from the base of each inverted vee member.The inverted vee members and horizontally projecting fingers are mountedon movable walking bars. It has been found that when the walking barsare made to move back and forth as well as up and down in a circularpath, the vee members and the horizontal fingers engage the vines andobtain a very vigorous shaking action which optimizes recovery oftomatoes. The speed of the shaker assembly may be varied to accommodatedifferent tomato varieties.

The tomatoes recovered in the shaker are dropped onto a collectorconveyor of linked bars, which may be substantially like that heretoforein use, and are thereupon moved to the rear and slightly upward fordeposit onto cross-conveyors. The tomato plants after having beenstripped are carried by the walking bars beyond the shaker and depositedat the rear of the machine on the ground. The cross-conveyors transportapproximately half the tomatoes to one side of the device and half thetomatoes to the other side, whereupon the present invention provides fora downward slope and for a plurality of parallel rotating cylinders overwhich the tomatoes are carried, agaon causing waste, chaff, and anyentangled dirt, to be freed from the recovered tomatoes before they passonto sorting conveyors which carry the tomatoes along both sides of thedevice in a frontward direction.

Sorters standing along the side of each sorting conveyor discard damagedtomatoes, underripe tomatoes, and culls, as well as any foreign matterwhich may have managed to get beyond the separating devices alreadyused. The sorting stations of this harvester differ from those ofprevious harvesters by the presence of an upper sorting conveyorcarrying the clods and such tomatoes as are collected at the gap betweenthe two sections of the pickup deviCe. One sorter may be located in eachsorting line in a special position closer in and higher, so that he canreach over to the upper sorting conveyor where the tomatoes and clodsrecovered by the clod conveyor are moving rearwardly, countercurrentlyto the mainstream of recovered tomatoes, and he lifts the good tomatoesfrom the clod conveyor and puts them on the main sorting conveyor tosend them in the forward direction, leaving bad tomatoes and dirt clodson this upper or clod conveyor, from the end of which they eventuallyfall off to the ground.

From here on, the operation is substantially like that used heretofore,with the main sorting conveyors depositing the chosen tomatoes onanother cross-conveyor which sends them out to a discharge elevator onone side of the harvester and deposits them in a suitable container forcarrying them to the cannery or other distribution point.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from thefollowing description of a preferred embodiment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a view in side elevation of a tomato harvester embodying theprinciples of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the harvester of FIG. 1 with the canopy andcanopy support frame omitted and with some portions broken away abovethe gap in the two sections of the pickup and elevator to show thespinner wheel at the gap and conveyor below it, and with the sideconveyor and associated parts broken off.

FIG. 3 is a view in front elevation of the harvester of FIGS. 1 and 2with the side conveyor and associated parts broken off. Also, the pickupconveyor is broken away to show the clod cross-conveyors, and some otherparts are omitted.

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the forward pickup assembly, the view beingbroken widthwise in order to conserve space.

FIG. 5 is an enlarged top plan view of the cutter bar and the frontportion of the forward pickup assembly.

FIG. 6 is an enlarged sectional view of the forward pickup assemblytaken along line 6--6 in FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a simplified view in side elevation of the forward pickupassembly showing the assembly and the gauge wheel in operating positionand showing in somewhat diagrammatic form the hydraulic liftingmechanism.

FIG. 8 is a view similar to FIG. 7 showing the forward part of thepickup device in a raised position relative to the gauge wheel.

FIG. 9 is an enlarged view in front elevation of a portion of the linkedbar endless conveyor used on the forward part of the pickup device ofFIG. 4.

FIG. 10 is a fragmentary view in side elevation of the very frontportion of the linked bar endless conveyor of FIG. 9 showing one of theidlers around which the front end rotates.

FIG. 11 is a somewhat diagrammatic view in side elevation and section ofthe pickup assembly with the gauge wheel and a portion of the sideelevator broken away.

FIG. 11a is an enlarged and somewhat diagrammatic view in side elevationof the spinner mounting journal with the lower portion thereof insection and with the frame mounting portion broken away to show thelower end of the upper elevator.

FIG. 11b is a fragmentary view in front elevation of the spinnermounting journal taken along line 11b--11b of FIG. 11a.

FIG. 11c is a fragmentary view of a portion of FIG. 11, with the spinnerbar removed and the upper elevator moved down to eliminate the gap.

FIG. 12 is a top plan view of the clod separator including the gap andthe spinner bar between the forward section and the upper elevator, withthe frame and the side walls of the forward pickup assembly cut away andwith the series of connected hydraulic power motors shown somewhatdiagrammatically.

FIG. 13 is a simplified fragmentary view in side elevation, partly issection, of most of the elevator used for elevating the clods and loosetomatoes from a clod cross-conveyor leading out from the gap up to anauxiliary, rearwardly moving sorting conveyor and showing an initialpart thereof.

FIG. 14 is a fragmentary top plan view of the same elements as FIG. 13.

FIG. 15 is an enlarged view in cross section taken along the line 15--15in FIG. 14.

FIG. 16 is a view in section taken along the line 16--16 in FIG. 15.

FIG. 17 is a view taken along the line 17--17 in FIG. 15.

FIG. 18 is a simplified and somewhat diagrammatic view in side elevationof the shaker assembly, showing two of the walker bars and theirconnections to the rotational and translational elements and theirsuspensions and also showing therebeneath a portion of the collectingconveyor. The assembly is shown horizontal although actually it istilted at an angle in use, this being done to save drawing space.

FIG. 19 is a view in rear elevation of the shaker assembly.

FIG. 20 is an enlarged fragmentary detailed view in side elevation of aportion of two adjacent parallel bars.

FIG. 21 is a view in elevation and in section taken at right angles toFIG. 20 along line 21--21.

FIG. 22 is a top plan view, on a enlarged scale, of the roller systemwhich conveys the collected tomatoes from the cross-conveyor in FIG. 2to the sorting conveyors.

FIG. 23 is a view in side elevation and on a reduced scale of the deviceof FIG. 22.

FIG. 24 is a detailed view of a portion of device shown in FIG. 12.

DESCRIPTION OF A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT General overall description (FIGS.1-3):

A tomato harvester 40 embodying the principles of this invention isillustrated in the drawings; although, of course, other embodiments arepossible. In the device shown in FIGS. 1, 2, and 3, there is a mainframe 41 supported on wheels 42. The harvester 40 has a suitableself-driving mechanism, such as an internal combustion engine, andappropriate drive apparatus, such as a transmission and differential.The main frame 41 incorporates a driver's platform 43 and a seat 44, andthe driver is provided with a steering wheel 45 and a control console 46containing suitable controls to regulate and monitor the operatingparameters of the harvester 40. A canopy 47 is mounted on the main frame41 and shades the entire harvester; it may be essentially that which isdescribed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,455,311. The main frame 41 also carries allof the subsidiary parts of this harvester. As shown in the drawings,these subsidiary parts include a forward pickup assembly 50, a loosetomato and clod separator 51, an upper elevator 52, a shaker assembly53, a rear cross-conveyor and chaff removal assembly 54, two transitionconveyors 55 and 56, two tomato sorting lines 57 and 58, and a dischargeelevator and tomato loading assembly 59.

The forward pickup assembly 50 (FIGS. 1-11):

As shown in FIGS. 1-4 the forward pickup assembly 50 has a rectangularframe 60 with two sidewalls 61 and 62 and a series of spaced crossmembers 63. A cutter bar 64 is supported at the front end of theassembly 50. The assembly 50 is pivotally mounted at its rear end to themain frame 41 by pivot members 65. A pair of lower hydraulic cylinders66 are each pivotally mounted to the main frame 41 and rods 67 fromtheir pistons are pivotally secured to crank arms 68 that are supportedby a lower portion of the sidewalls 61 and 62, so that the front endwith the cutter bar 64 may be raised and lowered relative to the mainframe 41.

As shown in FIGS. 1-3, 7, and 8, a pair of casters or gauge wheels 70extend forward of the cutter bar 64. These wheels 70 are each secured toa generally vertical rod 71 and the rods 71 are secured to a frameworkcomprising a cross member 72 and a pair of arms 73 that are pivotallysecured to extension members 74 mounted to the upper edge of thesidewalls 61 and 62. A pair of hydraulically activated driving cylinders75 are each pivotally mounted between an arm 73 and a bracket 76 fixedto the top edge of the sidewalls 61 and 62 to the rear of the extensionmember 74. By this mechanism, the gauge wheels 70 may be raised andlowered relative to the forward pickup assembly 50.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the cutter bar 64 includes the combination ofa fixed lower blade 77 with multiple vee-shaped serrations therein and aslidable upper blade 78 with multiple vee-shaped serrations therein,corresponding to the serrations of, and mounted on top of, the lowerblade 77. In FIGS. 5 and 6 plural hold down guides 79 mounted on cutterbar beam 80 urge the upper blade 78 in contact with the lower blade 77and against and hold the lower blade 77 the cutter bar beam 80. Theupper blade 78 is connected to a rocker arm 81 journalled to the frontof the sidewall 62 as viewed in FIGS. 4 and 5. The rocker arm 81 (SeeFIG. 4) is connected to one end of a connecting rod 82 which isconnected at its other end to a crank 83 which is in turn connected toone end of a crankshaft 84 journalled through the sidewalls 61 and 62and connected at its other end to a hydraulic motor 85 via a chain drive86, to provide a three-inch travel of the upper blade 78 at a typicalrate of 150 cycles per minute, with 300 cycles per minute being maximum.

Contained within the forward pickup assembly 50 and beginning about aninch and a half behind the cutter bar beam 80 is a continuous pickupconnveyor 86 of end-linked spaced-apart rods 87. The bars 87 are spacedapart to let dirt fall through between them, but they have to be closeenough to each other so that the tomatoes being harvested do not fallthrough. As a result of this requirement, some colds which are as largeas tomatoes are necessarily picked up and elevated along with the plantsand loose tomatoes. It is believed that most of the loose tomatoescarried up by the conveyor 86 are those which fall off the plant duringcutting of the plant stem or which fall off thereafter. Some of them,however, have probably fallen off previously, and most of these areliable not to be good tomatoes.

The conveyor 86 is guided by the interior surfaces of the sidewalls 61and 62. Plural idler wheels 88 guide the rods 87 just inside theendlinks to provide a low profile at the front end of the conveyor 86.

The conveyor 86 is passed around plural sprocket wheels 88a at itsrearward upper end. The sprocket wheels 88a engage the rods 87 to movethe top surface of the conveyor 86 rearwardly and upwardly at acontrollable rate. The wheels 88a are secured to a drive shaft 88b whichis journalled through both sidewalls 61 and 62 of the forward pickupassembly 50 and also through the main frame 41 adjacently to thesidewalls thereby providing a pivot point 65 of the forward pickupassembly 50 to the main frame 41. One end of the shaft 88b is connectedvia a sprocket and chain drive assembly 88c to a hydraulic motor 88d,which provides the drive power for the pickup conveyor 86.

It has been found that pickup of the severed tomato plants and loosetomatoes is enhanced by running the pickup conveyor 86 slower than theground speed of the harvester 40 as a whole. Thus, for generallyobtaining tomato field conditions, optimum performance of the forwardpickup assembly 50 results when the rearward movement of the top surfaceof the pickup conveyor 86 is approximately fifteen percent slower thanthe ground speed of the harvester 41.

The rearward spacing of the front end of the pickup conveyor 86 from thecutter bar beam 80 is very important. The purpose here is to enable theground swell created by the action of the cutter bar 64 to pass over thecutter bar beam 80 and fall back to the ground before the conveyor 86reaches it and to impede any pickup of loose dirt by the conveyor 86.Thus, most of the dirt loosened by the cutter 64 passes beneath even thelow profile of the pickup conveyor 86 and is not picked up thereby, forwhen harvesting devices pick up a layer of loose dirt (and no attempt ismade to do so in the present invention), there are resultant grossquantities of dirt to process and dispose of. A space of about one and ahalf inches between the cutter bar beam 80 and the conveyor 86 hasproven to be sufficient to minimize loose dirt pickup and still pick upeverything desired.

Moreover, by having the conveyor 86 move rearwardly and upwardly at aspeed about fifteen percent less than the harvester's ground speed (theactual speed being carefully controlled by the operator according toobtaining harvesting conditions), the material is crowded onto the lowerpickup conveyor 86, and this arrangement appears to improve the recoveryobrained from the field.

The loose tomato and clod sepatator 51 (FIGS. 1-4 and 11-17):

The loose tomato and clod separator 51 is located in a gap between theupper end of the pickup conveyor 86 and the lower end of the upperelevator 52. It includes a spinner 90 and two in-line cross-conveyors 91and 92 therebelow, moving in opposite directions from center. The gapbetween the conveyor 86 and the spinner 90 is wide enough so that loosetomatoes and tomato sized dirt clods as well as smaller particles andobjects fall down to the cross-conveyors 91 and 92, but is sufficientlynarrow to prevent tomato plants from passing therethrough.

The spinner 90 comprises a shaft 93 carrying a plurality of radiallyoutwardly extending bare 94 preferably made of a suitable elastomer andhaving a sinuous outer edge 95. Each end of the spinner shaft 93 isjournaled through a bushing 93a which is bolted to the main frame 41with two bolts 93b, which pass through the bushing 93a, spacers 93c andthe main frame 41. As best shown in FIG. 11a the spacers 93c permit thespinner 90 to be field adjusted to one of three horizontal positions,depending upon the placement of the spacers relative to the bushing 93aand the main frame 41 namely, (1) one spacer 93c of each pair on eachside of the frame 41, as shown in FIG. 11a, (2) both spacers 93c on thesame side of the frame 41 as the heads of the bolts 93b and (3) bothspacers 93c between the bushing 93a and the frame 41. Also, as bestshown in FIG. 11b the spinner 90 may be set to one of three verticalpositions by three sets of vertical holes 93d, e, and f, in the mainframe, each set being aligned to receive the bolts 93b which secure thebushing 93a to the frame 41. The three vertical and three horizontalpositions provide the farmer with a readily available way to vary thewidth of the gap to accommodate different varieties of tomatoes anddiffering field conditions.

One end of the spinner shaft 93 is coupled directly to a hydraulic motor93g which rotates the spinner 90 so that its bars 94 move upwardly andrearwardly relative to the pickup conveyor 86 at a controllable rate. Ithas been found that transfer of the tomato plants over the gap betweenthe conveyor 86 and the spinner 90 is optimized if the spinner 90 movesabout fifteen percent faster than the pickup conveyor 86. The fasterspinner speed lifts the plants onto the upper elevator assembly 52 withsufficient traction to prevent them from becoming entangled about oraround the spinner 90. Also, the increase in speed has been found, byobservation, to result in smoother movement of the plants, with lessagitation. At the same time the sinuous edges 95 of the resilientspinner bars 94 pass the loose tomatoes and clods to the cross-conveyors91 and 92 positioned below the gap.

The spinner bar 90 is made to be readily removable, not only forreplacement but for harvesting where no gap is desired. As shown inFIGS. 11a and 11c, after the spinner bar 90 and the clod cross conveyors91 and 92 have been removed, the upper elevator 110 can be slid downabout ten inches and locked as by resetting a few bolts 110a, to placethe elevator in an alternative position relative to the main frame 41where the elevator's lower end underlies the upper end of the pickupconveyor 86. One situation to which this applies is where the soil issandy and there are no clods and little loose fruit. Another situationcalling for eliminating the gap is where there is so much loose fruitthat it would overtax the sorter at the station when loose fruit must betransferred to the main sorting belt.

The cross-conveyors 91 and 92 are made up of endless spaced-apartend-linked bars 96 through which smaller bodies may pass, and they maybe driven by sprocket wheels (not shown) linked to a hydraulic motor(also not shown). The cross-conveyors 91 and 92 are made to be easilyremovable from the harvester main frame 41, as by taking out a few bolts91a and 92a as shown in FIGS. 1 and 3 and disconnecting them from theirmotors or removing the motors. Under conditions where there are manyclods and little salvageable loose fruit, the clods and spoiled fruitthen drop directly to the ground and thereby keep the machine cleaner.Removal is also convenient when the gap between the upper elevator 52and the pickup 50 is to be eliminated, as described above.

Sloping up from a position below the outward end of each conveyor 91 and92 and receiving the loose tomatoes and clods therefrom are sideelevators 100 (FIGS. 11 and 13-17), each made up of an endless chain ofspaced-apart end-linked bars 101 guided by elevator sidewalls 102 and103 and engaged by sprocket wheels 104 and 105 at each end, one of whichis rotated by a hydraulic motor 106. About every fifth linked bar 101may have an inverted trapezoid-shaped elastomeric flight bar 107 fixedthereto and extending perpendicularly outward from the plane formed bythe bars 101, as shown in FIGS. 16, 17, and 18.

The upper end of each side elevator 100 lies above an endless loosetomato and clod imperforate auxiliary sorting conveyor belt 108; thisbelt 108 is tended by one or more sorters, to remove tomatoes from theconveyor belts 108, letting the belts 108 carry away and dump the coldsand damaged or underripe or overripe tomatoes. A chain linkage 109(FIGS. 13 and 14) serves to connect the conveyor 108 to the elevatormotor 106.

The upper elevator assembly 52 (FIGS. 1-3 and 11):

As best shown in FIGS. 2 and 11, 11a and 11b, the upper elevatorassembly 52 begins just above the loose tomato and clod separator 51.The spinner 90 is parallel to and adjacent to the lower end of an upperelevator conveyor 110, which is preferably made from an endlessimperforate belt 111 of a suitable plastic or synthetic rubber materialhaving rows of elastomeric projections 112 thereon of sufficient lengthto engage the tomato plants that pass over the spinner 90. The upper end113 of the upper elevator conveyor 110 is positioned over the forwardend of the shaker assembly 53, so that the tomato plants carried upwardby the conveyor 110 are deposited onto the shaker assembly 53.

While it is desirable to align the upper elevator assembly 52 ashorizontally as possible, undue harvester length results therefrom.Consequently, it has been found that an angle of about forty-two degreesprovides excellent engagement and elevation of the tomato plants andmaintains the desired length of the harvester.

A cylindrical drum 114 engages the endless conveyor belt 111 adjacentlyto the spinner 90. The drum is journaled through the main frame 41 andis directly connected to a hydraulic motor 115 which rotates the drum ata controllable rate and moves the conveyor belt 111 upwardly.

As with the pickup conveyor 86 and the spinner 90 optimum elevatorperformance has been found when the upper elevator conveyor 111 travelsupwardly at a speed approximately fifteen percent faster than thespinner 90. The speed differential causes the conveyor 111 and theprojections 112 to pull the tomato plants off of the spinner 90 and liftthem upwardly.

As shown in schematic form in FIG. 12, the forward pickup conveyorhydraulic motor 88d and the spinner hydraulic motor 93g and the upperelevator hydraulic motor 115 are all connected in series in ahydrostatic drive configuration controllable at the control console 46.The series interconnection of the three motors permits the operator toadjust the speed of the forward pickup conveyor 86 in accordance withharvester speed or field conditions while at the same time the speedratios between the forward pickup conveyor 86, spinner 90 and upperelevator belt 111 are maintained the same.

The shaker assembly 53 (FIGS. 1, 2, and 19-22):

The shaker assembly 53 (See FIGS. 2 and 20) comprises a series oflongitudinally extending walking bars arranged in two sets, the walkingbars in one set being denoted by the reference numeral 120, and those inthe other set being denoted by numeral 121. All the bars 120 and 121 liein parallel planes, and the two sets move 180° apart in both up-and-downand fore-and-aft movement, preferably so that any one point on a bar 120or 121 moves through a circle or ellipse. Except for an improvementdisclosed hereinafter, the shaker assembly 53 is similar to that shownin the assignee's U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,252,464 and 3,455,453. Referring nowto FIGS. 19 to 22, the bars 120 and 121, etc., are made to produce awalking action by a crank-shaft 122 driven by a variable speed powersource (not shown) operating in the range of 175 to 195 rpm, dependingupon field conditions and variety of tomato. Reciprocal power istransferred to a rear connection rocker arm assembly 123 via aconnecting rod 124. A tomato recovery conveyor 125, which may be of anendless chain of spaced-apart end-linked parallel rods, is mountedunderneath the walking bars 120 and 121, etc. The conveyor 125 may beessentially the same as that described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,206,011.

The shaker assembly 53, as seen in FIGS. 18, 20, and 21, has beenimproved in function over prior-art shakers by the addition of aplurality of regularly spaced-apart inverted vee projections 126. Eachbar 120, 121 preferably has a series of such projections 126 extendingvertically from it. These projections 126 extend upward at a sharpangle, preferably about 75°, and their upper ends 127 are rounded toprevent impaling of tomatoes; the projections 126 extend well into thetomato plants to impart a more vigorous agitation of the plants whilestill pulling them forward. The increased shaking action effectivelyfrees the tomatoes from the plants. From near the base of eachprojection 126 a transverse horizontal finger 128 extends outwardly onone side of each bar 120, 121 nearly all the way across the gapsexisting between each bar 120 and each adjacent bar 121. The principleof the fingers is essentially the same as that described in U.S. Pat.No. 3,455,453, although in this assembly 53 the fingers 128 may beeither rigid or resilient.

The rear cross-conveyor and chaff removal assembly 54 (FIGS. 1 and 2):

In the harvester shown in FIG. 2 the rear cross-conveyor and chaffremoval assembly 54 is made up of two conveyor belts 130 and 131, whichare positioned to receive tomatoes from the collecting conveyor 125. Thebelts 130 and 131 move outwardly from the fore-and-aft centerline of theharvester 40 and away from each other. A blower (not shown) sends astream of air across the belts 130 and 131 to carry chaff, leaves,twigs, dirt and trash, ect. The rear cross-conveyor and chaff removalassembly 54 is essentially the same as that described in U.S. Pat. No.3,422,953 with improvements as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,455,448.

The transition conveyors 55 and 56 (FIGS. 1, 2, 22 and 23):

The two transition conveyor assemblies 55 and 56 are identical to eachother. Each one is preferably made up of a plurality of rotatingcylinders, preferably four cylinders 140, 141, 142, and 143 mechanicallylinked by a chain drive assembly 144 and gears 145, 146, 147, and 148,respectively (FIG. 23), to rotate in the same direction at a fixed slowrate. They may be driven by a hydraulic motor 149. In each assembly 55,56 the cylinders 140, 141, 142, and 143 are parallel and are spacedapart so that chaff and other foreign matter can fall between thecylinders 140, 141, 142, and 143 while the tomatoes are moved on to thesorting lines 57 and 58.

As shown in FIG. 23 the cylinders 140, 141, 142, and 143 are mounted toprovide a path inclined downwardly, and, referring to FIG. 2, theassemblies 57 and 58 are positioned in the harvester 40 so that thehighest cylinders 140 lie next to the rear cross-conveyor belts 130 and131, and the lowest cylinders 143 lie next to the sorting lines 57 and58. The downward inclination causes the tomatoes to roll down ontosorting conveyors 150 and 151 and, in conjunction with the rotation ofthe cylinders 140, 141, 142, and 143 produces a better distribution ofthe tomatoes on the sorting conveyors 150 and 151 than was obtained byfixed crowder rails ulitized in prior art tomato harvesters. Inaddition, the transition conveyors provide further separation of anychaff and other foreign matter still present.

The tomato sorting lines 57 and 58 (FIGS. 1-3):

The tomato sorting lines 57 and 58 of the harvester 40 preferably employtwo imperforate and continuous sorting conveyors 150 and 151, onepositioned on each side of the main frame 41 and running horizontally ina forward direction. A sorter platform 152, 153 is positioned on eachside of the harvester 40 to support sorter personnel who stand facingthe sorting belts 150 and 151. An integral part of the sorting lines 57,58 are the two auxiliary conveyor belts 108 for the loose tomatoes andclods. These belts 108 are positioned above and just behind the mainsorting belts 150, 151.

A separate elevated and instepped clod conveyor sorter platform 157 ispositioned on each side of the harvester 40 above the sorter platform152, 153 and adjacent to the loose tomato and clod conveyor belt 108.The raised and instepped platform 157 positions one or two sorterscloser to the clod conveyor 108 and enables the sorter to reach over themain sorting belt 150, 151 to the loose tomato and clod conveyor 108 sothat good tomatoes are easily picked up from that conveyor 108 andplaced onto the main conveyor 150, 151 therebelow. An inset railing 158adjacent to the outer edge of the main sorting belt 150, 151 and abovethe clod conveyor sorter platform 157 supports the sorter as he or sheleans over the main sorting belt 150, 151 to reach the clod conveyor108.

In instances where the clod conveyor 108 is not used for conveying loosefruit and clods (e.g., where the gap is eliminated and the spinner bar90 removed along with the clod cross-conveyors 91 and 92, or when thecross-conveyors 91 and 92 only are eliminated), the clod conveyor 108 isput to a somewhat different purpose: the sorters on the platforms 157then remove culls from the main belts 150 and 151 and place the culls onthe conveyor 108. This is done because there is no cull chute for theseparticular sorters, and it works quite well.

The forward ends 154, 155 of the main sorting belts 150, 151 terminatedirectly adjacent to a transverse conveyor 156, as shown in FIGS. 2 and3. The transverse conveyor 156 employs conventional principles to conveyall the chosen tomatoes to the tomato loading conveyor assembly 59.

SUMMARY OF OPERATION:

Summarizing the operation, the harvester 40 is self propelled along theground on its wheels 42. The cutter bar blade 64, the walker bars 120,121 the spinner 90, and the other conveyors and elevators are moved atpredetermined constant speeds. As the harvester 40 moves along the rows,the forward pickup device 50 is lowered so that the cutter bar 64 cutsclose to and usually below the ground. The forward pickup device 50 andthe cutter bar 64 are guided and stabilized by the gauge wheels 70,which are adjusted to run in parallel adjacent furrrows straddling therow of tomatoes being harvested.

At the beginning of a row of tomato plants to be harvested, the operatorlowers the forward pickup assembly 50 so that the cutter bar 64penetrates the ground to a depth of about one inch. This adjustment isaccomplished at the control console 46 by varying the position of thehydraulically activated drivers which set the gauge wheels 70 relativeto the forward pickup assembly 50. The lower hydraulic cylinders 66 areset to move freely during harvesting operation, and thus the position ofthe cutter bar 64 relative to the ground is controlled during harvestingsolely by the position of the gauge wheels 70 in the furrows of thefield. This is an important feature in that during harvesting operation,the operator of the harvester 40 is unable to see the position of thecutter bar because of the density of the crop. By observing the positionof the gauge wheels 79 which remain visible during harvesting, theoperator is easily able to gauge the position of the cutter bar 64relative to the ground.

The cutter bar 64 is adjusted so that the slidable upper blade 78 isoscillated at the slowest rate consonant with positive shearing actionfor typically obtaining field conditions. The slidable blade 78 willoscillate at about 150 cycles per minute. The maximum rate is about 300cycles per minute, and would rarely be reached even under the mostdifficult field conditions. The slidable blade 78 travels about threeand one quarter inches relative to the fixed blade in completing onefull cycle of operation.

The blades 77 and 78 shear off the tomato plants just below the ground,and immediately thereafter, the severed plants, the loose tomatoes andthe tomato-sized dirt clods are picked up by the pickup conveyor 86. Theloose dirt, twigs, leaves, weeds, trash, etc., simply go over the cutterblade 64 and back to the ground beneath the conveyor 86. Such loose dirtas starts up the conveyor 86 falls to the ground between the spacedapart rods 87 of the pickup conveyor 86. The speed of the conveyor 86 isadjusted at the control console 46 by the operator to be about fifteenpercent under ground speed of the harvester, which is as fast as fieldconditions permit.

At the rearward and upper end of the pickup conveyor 86 some loosetomatoes and substantially all of the tomato sized dirt clods fall ontothe clod cross-conveyors 91 and 92 and are thence carried to the loosetomato and clod sorting conveyors 108 via the loose tomato sideelevators 100. Small chaff and dirt falls through the spaced apart barsof the clod cross-conveyors 91 and 92 and elevators 100 and are thusseparated from the loose tomatoes and larger dirt clods.

The spinner 90 position is set by the operator before harvesting to varythe width and position of the gap for differing field condition; and thespinner 90 automatically rotates rearwardly at a speed about 15 percentfaster than the forward pickup conveyor 86 travels. Thus, the spinnersmoothly transfers the tomato plants off of the pickup conveyor 86 andlifts them onto the upwardly and rearwardly moving upper elevatorconveyor 110.

The upper elevator conveyor belt 110 automatically travels at a speedabout 15 percent faster than the spinner 90 which helps to transfer thetomato plants smoothly off of the spinner 90 and upwardly, so that theplants do not become entwined or jammed around the spinner 90. In thisregard the spaced plural elastomeric projections 112 extending from thebelt 110 materially enhance the engagement of the tomato plants by thebelt 110.

After carrying the tomato-laden plants upward the upper elevatorconveyor belt 110 deposits them onto the forward ends of the walkingbars 120 and 121 of the shaker assembly 53. As the plants are carriedalong the tops of the bars 120, 121 by the action of the horizontalfingers 128, the inverted vee projections 126 penetrate up into theplants and transmit an increasingly vigorous shaking agitation thereto.Ultimately, the exhausted plants are walked off the rearward ends of thebars 120, 121 and fall to the ground behind the harvester 40.

Meanwhile, the tomatoes freed by the agitation drop to the main tomatorecovery conveyor 125. Some of the chaff and leaves, etc., that are alsofreed by the movement of the bars 120, 121 fall between the spaced apartrods of the recovery conveyor 125 and are thereby separated from therecovered tomatoes. The tomatoes then pass to the rear cross-conveyorand chaff removal assembly 54 where air streams remove further chaff,while the cross-conveyor belts 130 and 131 move the recovered tomatoesoutwardly to the sides of the harvester 40.

The recovered tomatoes are lowered by the transition conveyor assemblies55 and 56 onto the main sorting conveyors 150 and 151 in an evenlydistributed fashion, whereas any remaining small chaff, leaves, twigs,dirt, trash, and other foreign matter, can fall to the ground betweenthe slowly rotating cylinders 140, 141, 142, and 143.

About eight farm laborers stand on each sorter platform 152, 153 andface the sorting conveyors 150 and 151. Unacceptable tomatoes and anyextraneous matter on the conveyors 150 and 151 are removed by thelaborers, leaving sorted tomatoes on the conveyors 150 and 151. Two ormore of the laborers are positioned above and in front of the othersorters as they stand on the inset platform 151 and select good tomatoesfrom the loose tomato conveyors 108 and place them onto the main sortingconveyors 150 and 151. The unacceptable loose tomatoes and dirt clodsfall of conveyors 108 to the ground. The tomatoes remaining on the mainsorting conveyors 150 and 151 are passed to the transverse loadingconveyor assembly 156 and are thence transported to an awaiting tomatobin on a flat bed truck (not shown) traveling adjacent to andsynchronous with the harvester.

To those skilled in the art to which this invention relates, manychanges in construction and widely differing embodiments andapplications of the invention will suggest themselves without departingfrom the spirit and scope of the invention. The disclosures and thedescription herein are purely illustrative and are not intended to be inany sense limiting.

I claim:
 1. A tomato harvester of the type having a main frame having acentral longitudinal axis, pickup and elevating means supported by saidmain frame for severing tomato plants below ground and elevating themand for depositing them within said main frame, separating meanssupported by said main frame for receiving said deposited tomato plantsfrom said pickup and elevating means and for separating ripe tomatoesfrom the plants, collecting means supported by said main frame belowsaid separating means for collecting the separated tomatoes and movingthem rearwardly, and a pair of sorting stations supported by said mainframe, one at each side of said harvester each including a mainforwardly moving sorting conveyor supported by main frame to receive thecollected separated tomatoes from said collecting means the combinationcharacterized by:said pickup and elevating means comprising a forwardinclined pickup, having an upper end to the rear of a forward lower end,and a rearward relatively more sharply inclined elevator in line withsaid pickup and having a lower end, separated from said upper end ofsaid forward pickup to define a gap therebetween, said elevator having aconveyor, said forward pickup having a frame, plant stem severing meansat the forward lower end of said frame and a pickup and elevatingconveyor with its forward end spaced back of said severing means at adistance just sufficient to enable most of the loose dirt raised in aground swell when said severing means is in operating position belowground surface to return to the ground surface below said forward end ofsaid pickup and elevating conveyor even when that forward end is onlyslightly above ground level, said pickup and elevating conveyorcomprising a series of edge-interlocked bars having central conveyingportions spaced apart far enough to let loose dirt drop through andclose enough together to retain loose tomatoes thereon and consequentlyto retain thereon dirt clods of tomato size and larger, rotatablespinner means supported by said main frame in said gap between saidlower end of said elevator and said upper end of said forward pickup forassisting transfer of picked up tomato plants onto said elevator whileenabling picked up loose tomatoes and clods to fall downwardly throughsaid gap said gap being wide enough to enable said clods and loosetomatoes to drop therethrough and to accommodate said rotatable spinnermeans, a pair of clod cross-conveyors supported by said main frame andhaving front transverse edges underlying and generally aligned with saidupper end of said forward pickup and having rear transverse edgesunderlying and generally aligned with said lower end of said elevator sothat cross-conveyors are below said gap and operable for movingseparated clods and tomatoes outwardly from said central longitudinalaxis, a pair of clod elevators each supported by said main frame at theouter end of a said clod cross-conveyor and operable for receiving clodsand loose tomatoes thereon and for elevating them, and a pair ofrearwardly moving clod conveyors supported by said main frame, eachbeing parallel to, adjacent to and above and displaced inwardly towardsaid central axis from a said main sorting conveyor and having a frontend positioned to receive clods and loose tomatoes from a said clodelevator and having a rear discharge end for dropping clods and cullsonto the ground, said sorting stations each having clod conveyor accessplatform means located at a higher level than the remainder of saidsorting station and at least partially inwardly therefrom closer to saidcentral axis for positioning at least one sorter of each said sortingstation within reach of his said clod conveyor and the said adjacentmain sorting conveyor, whereby said sorter is able conveniently totransfer good tomatoes from his said clod conveyor to his said mainsorting conveyor while those two conveyors are moving countercurrently.2. The harvester of claim 1 wherein said spinner means is a rotatingspinner assembly of plural, axially parallel, radially extending bars,each bar being resilient and having an undulating outer edge, and meansfor supporting said spinner assembly by said frame in any one of aplurality of positions relative to said pickup and said elevator,according to harvesting conditions, to engage said severed tomato vines,said spinner assembly being rotated in a direction so that its topsurface moves generally rearwardly to move said vines across said gapand to urge them into engagement with said elevator while said loosetomatoes and dirt clods fall to said clod cross-conveyors.
 3. Theharvester of claim 2 having self propelling means for moving saidharvester at selected ground speeds and including first power meanssupported by said main frame and connected to said pickup and elevatingconveyor for moving said pickup and elevating conveyor rearwardly at aspeed approximately fifteen percent below the ground speed of saidharvester, second power means supported by said main frame and connectedto said spinner assembly for rotating said spinner assembly so that thetop surface thereof moves generally rearwardly at a speed approximatingthe ground speed of said harvester, and third power means supported bysaid main frame and connected to said elevator conveyor for moving saidelevator conveyor rearwardly and upwardly at a speed approximatelyfifteen percent above the ground speed of said harvester.
 4. Theharvester of claim 1 wherein said pickup and elevating conveyor isinclined at an angle of about twenty degrees relative to the horizontaland includes power means for causing it to travel rearwardly at a speedabout fifteen percent slower than the ground speed of said harvester. 5.The harvester of claim 4 wherein the upper elevator conveyor is inclinedto the horizontal at an angle of about forty degrees and travelsupwardly at a speed of about thirty percent faster than the speed ofsaid pickup and elevating conveyor.
 6. The harvester of claim 1 whereinsaid plant stem severing means comprises a cutter bar having a fixedsawtoothed blade and an oscillating sawtoothed blade in overlyingengagement with said fixed blade.
 7. The harvester of claim 6 whereinsaid frame of said forward pickup is pivotally mounted to a frontportion of said main frame and plural castor wheels pivotally mounted atthe front of said forward pickup frame to support said pickup frame. 8.The harvester of claim 6 including power means supported by said forwardpickup frame and connected to said cutter bar for oscillating saidcutter bar at a rate between 150 and 300 cycles per minute.
 9. Theharvester of claim 1 wherein said clod cross-conveyors each comprise anendless conveyor of spaced-apart end-linked rods enabling broken clodsto pass between successive rods and fall to the ground surface.
 10. Theharvester of claim 1 having rear cross-conveyor means supported by saidmain frame and extending transversely outwardly between said collectingmeans and each said main sorter conveyor for transferring the collectedfruit from said collecting means to each main sorter conveyor, saidcross-conveyor means including two lateral oppositely and axiallyoutwardly moving belts and two sets of plural parallel rollers whereinadjacent rollers are spaced apart somewhat less than an average tomatodiameter and mechanically linked together to rotate synchronously in anoutward direction, each said set immediately adjacent and lying betweena said belt and the rear end of a said main sorting conveyor.
 11. Theharvester of claim 10 wherein said belts are substantially higher thansaid main sorting conveyors and said rollers of each set aresuccessively lower from the innermost to the outmost to define a downslope, the roller closest to each said belt being the highest but beinglower than said belt, the roller closest to said main sorting conveyorbeing the lowest but being higher than said main sorting conveyor. 12.The harvester of claim 1 wherein said elevator conveyor comprises anendless imperforate belt having multiple spaced apart resilient fingersextending outwardly therefrom.
 13. The harvester of claim 1 wherein saidseparating means comprises plural sets of parallel spaced apart walkingbars each having a resilient bumper mounted to the topside thereof, saidbumper being in the shape of a series of upwardly extending acutelyinclined inverted vee projections rounded at their upper ends and spacedapart at their bases by undulating portions of said bumper.
 14. Theharvester of claim 13 wherein said bumper additionally comprises aseries of slender resilient horizontal fingers, each extendingtransversely from said bar at the base of each inverted vee projection.15. The harvester of claim 13 including means for oscillating saidwalking bars at a rate of between 175 and 195 revolutions per minute.16. The harvester of claim 1 wherein there are clod elevator securingmeans for securing said pair of clod elevators to said main frame andfor enabling rapid removal of said pair of clod elevators from said mainframe.
 17. The harvester of claim 16 having spinner securing meanssecuring said spinner means to said main frame and for enabling rapidremoval of said spinner means from said main frame, andelevatorrepositioning means securing said elevator to said main frame forrepositioning said elevator on said main frame after removal of saidspinner means from said main frame so that the lower end of saidelevator lies directly below the upperend of said pickup and elevatingconveyor with some overlap, whereby said gap is eliminated.